Explore the diverse flora and fauna on the Downs from season to season through personal observations and photographs

Saturday, 17 Oct 2026

Common Banded Hoverfly on ivy flower

A surprising first photo of the day was a Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) butterfly. Flight season for the second (summer) brood of Holly Blue ends around the first week of September, so to see one today implies that this is from a third brood. A third brood only occurred 9 times in the whole of […]